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Tuesday, 29 March 2016

Today I am back with another card that features the Nuvo Crystal Drops from Tonic, this time I wanted to create a masculine card using also a die from the Musical collection from Tonic, called Electric Guitar.

For the background I used the Sew Pretty Pinhole Nesting Layering Circle die set. All of them, but not at once! I did a couple of dies at the time, making sure to attach them securely on to the card with low tack tape (using two pieces of tape at two opposite ends of the die).

That created an interesting texture as well as provided me with a good guideline for the Nuvo Drops, which in this case are done with the Liquid Mercury drops.

I did a bit of paper piecing for the guitar, but left those two lines so that you could see the red coming through. I inked the background using colour sprays, Dylusions and Tim Holtz Distress.

I put some of the drops on a piece of acetate to use as a palette, and then I used a soft make up sponge to dabb small amounts of the the Drops through the stencil created into the card. I make sure to blend in the colours both in the make do palette and on the card.

Once I lifted the stencil I added the drops in the centre, dropping first a drop of the Rhubarb Crumble and then a tiny one of the Mustard one.

Thursday, 24 March 2016

Last week I had the chance to play with the Nuvo Crystal Drops from Tonic in preparation for the shows at Create and Craft USA. And I will be honest, I was truly surprised at how good and versatile these are. You see, I have used some similar products in the past, but I have never achieved a good result. With these, straight out of the bottle, bam, perfect 3d dome effects every time!

But making beautifully domed embellishments is not the only thing you can make with them, you can actually use them as paints. In fact all the colour elements of this card have had the Nuvo drops treatment over them.

The obvious use for the Nuvo Crystal drops is to add three dimensional dome like dots, perfect for the centres of the flowers. Here I used Ivory Seashell that creates perfect pearls of practically any size you would want! (I would say that 1cm or 1/2" in diameter is about as big as I would go.)

Monday, 21 March 2016

Another baby card I made for last weeks shows at Create And Craft USA for Tonic Studios using this time the rocking horse.

In this card, the horse (and the whole soft turquoise circle) does rotate, creating a rocking horse.

Between the layers, either side of the white circle that has a small aperture just above the centre, there are two pennies glued to each other with a circle foam pad.

The sentiment is from the same Baby Rococo collection from Tonic. I just put a bit of washi tape on the back to hold the glitter. Yes, washi isn't the strongest tape so some glitter may fall over, but this card has been to manhandled quite heavily and still has the glitter perfectly in place. If you are concerned that it will fall off just use the red tape on the back.

Tuesday, 15 March 2016

I simply used the gorgeous Special Delivery die and die cut it using satin mirror board, really thick (about 300gsm) but using either the Big Shot Plus or the Crossover (I am sure the Tangerine will be the same!) was not a problem!

The little hot air balloons are cut from the Nursery Mobile die also from the same collection.

Just to show how versatile die cutting is. A die for babies can be used for something really different.

I die cut three of the larger Rectangles frames. One for the back is scored at about 1/2" or 1 cm approx. and attached to a plain one by just gluing that flap created to the back.

Then I took the third Rectangle die cut and I used the pin holes to create a simple pattern embroidered across. Then I attached that panel on to the front panel that matches perfectly to disguise all the threads on the back.

I love the texture you get with some threads and these Sew Pretty frames make it so quick and easy! And with all those pin holes, there are so many possible patterns!

Finally, I just used the Nuvo Drops Gloss Dandelion and Pumpkin to add detail to the centre of the flowers. I am really impressed with them, they hold their shape completely and they dry very quickly (compared to other similar products).

Friday, 4 March 2016

I have been using Tonic products since they started. My all time favourite paper cutting tool is a 12 years old guillotine from Tonic. ( I got it back when they partnered up with Do Crafts creating their X cut range. But the new ones are identical just with orange details instead of blue.)

You know by now that I love die cutting, and always have admired their intricate and innovative designs, so when they asked me to represent them for some shows at Create and Craft USA of courseI was delighted!

Each set comes with four dies: one sentiment, an intricate aperture cutting die and two matting and layering (or frame creating) dies.

The innovation of these dies is that they have tiny prick holes in them so they perforate the card just so slightly that creates a beautiful detail that can be embroidered, faux embroidered with a pen, or left on its own as the pin hole detail is so pretty.

For some one like me that started making cards embroidering on card, this was a sort of a full circle thing.

Thursday, 3 March 2016

My friends over at Craftwork Cards organise a fabulous craft show twice a year up North called Next Great Create Extravaganza (formerly GNPE). It is one of my favourite shows, with so much inspiration from top notch companies and demonstrators.

I am a professional freelance paper crafter and graphic designer living and working in the UK for the last ten years. I am one of the faces demonstrating Tonic Studios on Hochanda. I have designed stamps and die cutting products for several craft companies.

You can find them in craft shops all over the country including:

The clear stamp sets that I have designed are made and distributed to craft shops around the country by Personal Impressions. I have direct links to some internet and brick and mortar shops that stock the whole range at the bottom of this column.

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